Valley Fog
Surface hoar is growing slowly above 3,000'
Old crowns on Seattle Ridge
The sun is beginning to become a factor on more terrain, as seen here midday in the Library below Tincan Ridge
Observation: Turnagain
Location: Sunburst
Route
Sunburst up to 3,700’
Weather
Temp: mid 20s F
Wind: calm
Precip: none
Sky: clear, valley fog
Obvious Signs Of Instability
Recent Avalanches-NO
Shooting Cracks-NO
Collapsing-NO
Glide Activity-none
Snowpack Obs –
Surface hoar up to 5mm from ~3,000′ and above.
Upper elevations, above 3,000′, have roughly 4-6″ of loose weak snow on the
surface. South facing ‘steep’ slopes are seeing sun affect in the top few inches
of decomposing new snow. There was enough solar input to create a thin (1cm)
melt layer 1cm below the surface. Perfect RR setup but didn’t see faceted grains.
Lower elevations, between 1,000-3,000’ have seen near surface faceting occurring
over the past week. This thin layer of weak snow sits on stout crust. These
layers are not an issue now but could be a problem with future loading. We will
track the surface through this dry spell and map it thoroughly prior to the next
loading event, which still looks to be a ways off.
Mountains are littered with old avalanches and debris that still, after two
weeks, look relatively new. We are in need of new snow!!